


stateless

by PinkVoidHologram



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: F/F, F/M, and its all kind of ambigeous, demon pearl au, its supposed to be, rose is a demon who left pearl a long time ago, steven is a music teacher
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-23
Updated: 2018-03-23
Packaged: 2019-04-06 18:19:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,168
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14062698
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PinkVoidHologram/pseuds/PinkVoidHologram
Summary: Pearl dies.





	stateless

Blood drips on the floor.

 

She goes through the window. She always goes through the window. It’s a force of habit, at this point, as she struggles to grip the windowsill and pull herself up. It’s her favorite entrance, after all. It makes her feel like a troublemaker, like she was going to break in. She knows it’s ridiculous; one can’t break into a home one lived in. She has a key. The key is useless. The window always remains unlocked, despite all the storms and chances of robbery. 

 

The key is for the front door. Steven worries about the window being opened all the time. He know it’s her favorite, but he doesn’t want trouble. Pearl calmly reminds him that most criminals were involved with demons. Demons have obvious marks. Anyone with common sense knows it’s stupid to mess with a powerful demon. 

 

“People usually don’t have common sense, you know.” He points out once. The conversation doesn’t go further. 

 

In the end, for his sake, she promises to use his key. He gives it to her as a sign of trust. He wants to share his life, even if his life is only a blip on her radar. Pearl won’t deny she’s touched, but she always leaves it hanging in the air. She thinks it’s funny to keep him wondering, even as she stays.

 

It’s a shame that day won’t come anymore. She thinks he’d be happy to hear her coming through the front door, and being open about her feelings. 

 

Blood drips on the floor. 

 

Her hand grips at her side. There’s a deep gash. It’s bad. Some angel had gotten mad at her. She doesn’t care about what heaven does as long as it doesn’t affect her. Heaven can be the world police all they want. They can think they have a right to decide what is just and what is not. She doesn’t care what they believe. It’s always been horseshit anyways. The only thing Heaven cares about is themselves.

 

Steven’s asleep at his desk. There’s a mess of papers. She smiles softly as she walks slowly toward him. Steven was always working too hard, in her opinion. He always works so late on his student’s papers. He always works too hard on making sure he has enough music sheets for the new piece of the semester. He always stays at work so long. Perhaps Steven caring so much is what draws her to him in the first place. Both the best quality and the greatest flaw.

 

“I love you,” she whispers, placing her hand over his one last time. Tears start to form at the edge of her eyes. She slowly moves away as water stains her cheeks. She hangs in the middle of the doorway. She grips the doorframe and hesitates. She wants to glance one last time, but she knows it’ll only make it more difficult than it already was. She forces herself to move forward, and she starts to sob.

  
  


*

She stumbles onto the bathroom sink. It’s a vain attempt, she thinks, as she tries to clean up what she can and wraps it. Her breath hitches as she thinks on how Steven will react in the morning. She always said he’d be the one leaving her behind. “It’s just how demons and humans are,” she’d said, matter of fact. “Demons live for thousands of years, and human are lucky to live a hundred.”

 

“Does that mean you’ll leave me?” He worried he wasn’t good enough for her. She wonders if he still does.

 

“No. I’ll stay.” She smiled, to calm his nerves. He kissed her then, and maybe that was when everything finally fit together. They’d stay together for the rest of his days, and Pearl would be hurt, but she’d never wonder if she was left behind or tossed aside.  _ Rose -  _

 

She laughs. “Am I going to join you, Rose? Is that where you went?”

 

Her breaths are shallow as she eases herself into the bathtub, and almost slips. It doesn’t matter now. She’s at the end. She lays down against cold ceramic, and she figures this is a fitting end, to die in a bathtub. She’s where she considers home, and not far from her wonderful, perfect, stubborn and well-meaning lover, who will never truly know how much she treasures him.

 

If a thousand years of heartbreak lead to him, it was all worth it.

 

*

 

_ “Rose…” Her face was flushed at the first sight of her. Pearl thinks she’s perfect, as she fumbles with piano keys and messes up the melody. Rose laughs, her stomach dropping and her heart racing. Rose puts her hands over Pearl’s. “Do you need help? I can play a little.”  _

 

_ “I’ve looked for Rose everywhere, Pearl. I can’t find her. I think she’s….. Gone.” Her youngest sister tells her one morning. Pearl didn’t know where Rose went. She’ll never know. _

 

_ “You’ve always been so special, Pearl. You should believe in yourself someday. I think it’ll be a good day when you do.” Rose always talked such beautiful nonsense. But Pearl still remembers the look she gave, and it hurts her even now. _

 

_ “.... Hey, Pearl. Do demons get married to each other?” Steven asks her, because he’s always so curious. “Not really,” Pearl responds. “We mark our skins as a signal, but marriage is too much of a fanfare for us. Most demons think humans are silly for putting so much emphasis on it.” _

 

_ “.... Do you think we’ll get married?”  _

 

_ Pearl can’t give an answer.  _

 

_ “Well, I suppose if you wanted to, you could try to get a tattoo.” She remarks to him as he’s grading papers and she’s organizing them. “It’ll be like we’re married. My mark’s already changed, anyway.” The roses have stopped wilting. They’re in full bloom again. Pink and white. She wants to laugh. _

 

_ “....What do you think I should get?” _ _   
_ _   
_ __ “Anything.” She kisses him. 

 

_ He gets lilies on his shoulder. He says it matches how strong he is, and she says she loves him for the first time.  _

 

_ “Pearl.” Rose calls out to her. She’s smiling like she used to. She’s the image of perfection, just like how Pearl remembers her. She still has lilies on her shoulder. _

 

_ “I wish I never loved you.” Pearl only remembers the pain. Her love is overshadowed by a heartbreak that never truly ended.  _

 

_ There’s nothing there anymore. Pearl is left alone, with only the memories. It’s like Rose never existed.  _

 

_ “Hey, Pearl! What are you doing there? Come on, I thought you were okay with a ceremony. You aren’t ditching me, are you? I mean, I guess it’s okay if you are? Well, it’s not, but if you can’t do this, I won’t hold you back.”  _

 

_ She’s in white. She’s holding lilies. “Sorry. I wasn’t feeling well. I’ll come down.”  _

 

_ “And here I thought you never got nervous.” He laughs, and it’s the last thing she hears. _

 

Death takes her in the bathtub. 

 

*

 

The morning comes.

 

He’s left all alone.

 

**Author's Note:**

> im back and im back with a new au and angst, haha
> 
> hope you enjoyed it!!


End file.
